DEPORTATIONS UP, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CONTENDS

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Critics dispute administration figures

By Miriam Raftery

January 26, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The Obama administration is on track to deport over 2 million people, according to a new report from the University of California-Merced.  That’s about the same number deported under the Bush administration, but more than the U.S. deported during over a century from the late 1890s to the late 1990s.

On average, those deported had lived in the U.S. for 14 years, leading to concerns that the Criminal Alien Program is tearing apart families.  A quarter of all people deported since mid-2010 are parents with children in the U.S., including parents of American citizens, the report concludes.

Arturo Carmona, Executive Director of Presente.org, the largest national Latino online advocacy organization in the country, denounced the practice.

“DHS reports of continued record-breaking deportations by the Obama Administration come as no surprise to those of us who live and work in Latino communities where we hear daily stories of destroyed families, and cries of children whose hard-working parents have been ripped from their arms.”

He added, “Such continued disrespect of the Latino community raises the question, 'How long will Latinos continue to consider and treat President Obama as a "friend," when he destroys Latino families at a record-breaking pace?  The DHS report runs polar opposite to opinion polls showing overwhelming Latino rejection of Obama's current immigration policies."

But conservatives in Congress have taken a hard line on immigration and deportation issues, insisting on stronger enforcement before considering immigration reforms.

Another report from the Migration Policy Institute  noted that the U.S. spends more on immigration enforcement than on all other federal law enforcement combined.  The policy is also costly.  Human Rights Watch’s latest World Report found that “illegal re-entry into the U.S. has become the most prosecuted federal crime

Deportations reached a record 419,384 in fiscal year, U.S. Department of Homeland Security data  indicates. Deportations rose both in people with and without criminal convictions. Some were for minor offenses.  Nearly a quarter of those deported for crimes involved traffic offenses.  Another quarter were for drug convictions and one in five were for immigration crimes such as illegal entry or re-entry to the U.S.

  The number of  border arrests (mostly at the U.S.-Mexico border),  also rose to 365,000 in 2012.

Deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials dipped somewhat in 2013,  recently released immigration enforcement statistics indicate, though final data for deportations including Customs and Border Protection as well as ICE are not yet available.

The high rate of deportations increase pressure on Congress to take action on comprehensive immigration reforms to address whether or not to extend legal status to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, including many children and teens, living in the United States.



Editor's note:  After publication, we received information challenging the data provided by other sources.  They indicate the Obama administration changed its methodology for calculating deportations and  this may have inflated the actual numbers.  Here are links with arguments from critics of the administration on the deportation claims.

 

Obama blames Republicans for failure of immigration reform, says increase in deportations is misleading

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-blames-republicans-failure-immigration-reform-says-increase-182645175.html

Deportation Numbers Unwrapped: Raw Statistics Reveal the Real Story of ICE Enforcement in Decline

http://cis.org/ICE-Illegal-Immigrant-Deportations

Deportations under Obama plunged to just 1 percent last year

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/19/us-deportations-plummet-2013-report/?page=all

Obama Administration Inflating Deportation Numbers Misleading classifications make it look like traditional deportations are up. They're not.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/370784/obama-administration-inflating-deportation-numbers-andrew-stiles


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Comments

deportation stats

Thanks for emailing links to document the dispute over deportation figures. I've added the other side of the story with links.

Ladmo, please provide documentation for these stats.

We were NOT aware of errors in the original report which was published in a variety of publications. That said, if the numbers we received were not accurate, we would want to provide clarification or a correction. However I need links to document your data. Do you work for ICE or have links to your sources?

"continued disrespect of the

"continued disrespect of the Latino community"  Really?

 

First there is no disrespect, there is no reason to respect the community.  Individuals earn respect.

Second, the so called community is supportive of illegal actions and criminal activity and closes its eyes while smearing those who respect the laws of the landd

Third, all illegal aliens are not hispanic and they ALL should be deported.